Chapter Summaries

Li Lingsu and Yang Qianhuan plotted to embarrass Xu Qi'an at his wedding, while the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox sent Yeji to congratulate him and cultivate by his side. At the Xu Residence, Xu Yuanhuai and Xu Yuanshuang discussed the supposedly dull-witted Xu Lingyin, then joined the family as Xu Qi'an tried to recruit help writing wedding invitations.

• Li Lingsu persuaded Yang Qianhuan to help make Xu Qi'an's wedding day embarrassing, and Yang eagerly agreed.
• Yeji reported what she had learned about Shenshu and the Mahavairocana Tathagata Dharma Idol to the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox, who ordered her to bring wedding gifts to Xu Qi'an and stay with him to cultivate.
• Xu Yuanhuai and Xu Yuanshuang discussed their own talents and heard that Xu Lingyin had struggled to learn, so Ji Baiqing suggested they teach the child.
• Xu Yuanshuang and Xu Yuanhuai joined the family after Xu Lingyin returned to the Xu Residence.
• Xu Qi'an asked Xu Yuanshuang to help write wedding invitations, and she agreed before noticing that Xu Lingyue and Mu Nanzhi had refused to help.

Xu Qi'an and his family prepared for his wedding while Xu Yuanshuang learned that Xu Lingyin was an exceptionally talented Gu practitioner. After Xu Qi'an finished planning the invitations, Mu Nanzhi confronted him in private, while Xu Lingyin and Lina waited for meat in the courtyard.

• Xu Lingyue challenged Xu Yuanshuang over the wedding invitations, and Xu Qi'an stepped in to ease the embarrassment.
• Ji Baiqing suggested Xu Yuanshuang teach Xu Lingyin, then proposed that Xu Yuanhuai teach her martial arts, but Lina objected and revealed that she and her Third Rank father were already training Xu Lingyin in Gu Arts.
• Lina said Xu Lingyin had the strength of an Eighth Rank martial artist and could fight at Seventh Rank by the end of the year, astonishing Xu Yuanshuang, Xu Yuanhuai, and Ji Baiqing.
• Xu Qi'an reviewed his wedding guest list and considered how to manage the many potential guests and complications.
• Mu Nanzhi threatened to expose her relationship with Xu Qi'an, and he restrained her as they tussled over the desk.
• Xu Lingyin asked Lina to find meat, and a fox cub emerged from the flowerbed as they sat sharing pastries.

As Xu Qi'an prepared to marry Princess Lin'an, he dealt with Xu Lingyin’s attempt to eat Baiji and with the wedding arrangements, including a dispute over who would sit in the place of honor. Ji Baiqing quietly accepted that she might not be included in the ceremony, while Li Miaozhen woke at the Directorate of Astronomy and learned Xu Qi'an was marrying Lin'an; the chapter ended as the Empress Dowager went to check on the bride.

• Xu Lingyin and Lina tried to take Baiji to the kitchen to eat her, but Mu Nanzhi rescued the fox, and Xu Qi'an punished Xu Lingyin by making her balance a flowerpot on her head.
• A eunuch delivered imperial wedding gifts to Xu Qi'an, and the Xu family prepared for the final wedding rite of fetching the bride.
• Second Uncle Xu raised the question of whether Ji Baiqing or Auntie should sit in the place of honor, and Xu Qi'an reassured Auntie that she would retain the seat because she had raised him.
• Ji Baiqing told Xu Yuanshuang she had no regrets about missing Xu Qi'an’s wedding, though Xu Yuanshuang understood her mother still wished to attend as his mother.
• Li Miaozhen woke after five days at the Directorate of Astronomy and learned from Susu that Xu Qi'an was marrying Princess Lin'an the next day.
• On the morning of the wedding, crowds gathered along the route to the imperial city as the Empress Dowager inspected Lin'an’s lavish dowry and went to her bedchamber.

Lin'an and Xu Qi'an completed their elaborate wedding rites, then Xu Qi'an honored his birth mother Ji Baiqing with a private bow in the bridal chamber. As Lin'an worried that the State Preceptor might interrupt them, Xu Qi'an prepared to leave the chamber and greet the guests, confident he had a plan for the day's complications.

• The Empress Dowager oversaw Lin'an's bridal preparations and advised her to restrain her temper and manage her marriage to Xu Qi'an.
• Xu Qi'an led his bridal procession to Shaoyin Palace, where Lin'an left in a pheasant carriage and joined him on the journey back to the Xu Residence.
• Xu Qi'an and Lin'an performed their wedding bows before the Xu clan and retired to the bridal chamber.
• Xu Qi'an and Lin'an privately bowed to Ji Baiqing, and Xu Qi'an called her “Mother,” moving her to tears.
• Lin'an worried that the State Preceptor would attack her, and Xu Qi'an reassured her before leaving to greet the wedding guests.

Xu Qi'an welcomed guests to his wedding to Lin'an, including old friends, officials, and several women with complicated ties to him. As the banquet began, Li Lingsu and Yang Qianhuan started provoking the women seated together, setting the stage for a scene.

• Xu Qi'an welcomed County Magistrate Zhu and the Changle County officials, then Wang Simu and the Wang family's two young masters.
• Xu Qi'an received the Martial Arts Alliance leaders, Song Qing, Chu Caiwei, Yang Qianhuan, Li Miaozhen, and Li Lingsu, while trading jokes and bracing for their plans to tease the newlyweds.
• Wei Yuan arrived with Huaiqing, who attended the wedding for Lin'an, and Wei Yuan asked to sit near her so he could watch the drama.
• Daoist Jinlian and the Heaven and Earth Society members arrived, followed by Zhao Shou and Cloud Deer Academy's Great Confucians, including the newly Transcendent Yang Gong.
• Xu Qi'an's guests took their seats, with Huaiqing, Luo Yuheng, Li Miaozhen, Mu Nanzhi, Zhong Li, Lina, Chu Caiwei, and Wang Simu at one table as Li Lingsu and others watched for trouble.
• Yang Qianhuan lamented the women who would weep over Xu Qi'an's marriage, and Li Lingsu declared that Xu Qi'an was devoted only to Lin'an.

At Xu Qi'an’s wedding, Li Lingsu and Yang Qianhuan tried to embarrass him by exposing his romantic entanglements, but Xu Lingyue and Wang Simu helped defuse the first round of trouble. Empress Huaiqing then presented eighteen fox women from the Kingdom of Ten Thousand Demons, leaving Xu Qi'an surrounded by furious women as the wedding festivities continued.

• Li Lingsu and Yang Qianhuan provoked Xu Qi'an by suggesting he had slighted Luo Yuheng, but Mu Nanzhi challenged Li Lingsu before Xu Qi'an identified her as Aunt Mu.
• Li Miaozhen summoned Susu and accused Xu Qi'an of abandoning her after promising to take her as a concubine, while Li Lingsu and Yang Qianhuan joined the attack.
• Xu Lingyue argued that Susu could enter the household as a concubine after the wedding, undercutting Li Miaozhen's complaint.
• Xu Qi'an pushed Wang Simu into representing Lin'an, and Ji Baiqing and Auntie had Wang Simu and Xu Xinnian toast the guests, easing the tension.
• Huaiqing presented eighteen fox women from the Kingdom of Ten Thousand Demons, and Yeji greeted Xu Qi'an affectionately, provoking dismay among the women at the wedding.

Xu Qi'an navigated the wedding banquet’s jealous rivalries after the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox arrived disguised as Fuxiang with seventeen fox women, then got revenge on the guests who had stirred trouble. As the banquet ended, he prepared for the bridal-chamber revelry and planned to bring Protector Yuan out of seclusion to control the remaining guests.

• Yeji presented seventeen fox women as Xu Qi'an’s Southern Frontier concubines, provoking the women at the wedding until Zhong Li recognized Yeji as Fuxiang and Xu Qi'an identified the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox behind the disguise.
• Huaiqing and Li Miaozhen traded barbs with Xu Lingyue and Mu Nanzhi, while Mu Nanzhi teased Huaiqing about marriage and Luo Yuheng called for her to be sent to the Imperial Music Bureau.
• Xu Qi'an toasted the Martial Arts Alliance and asked Xiao Yuenu whether she was Xueji, but she denied understanding his question.
• Zhong Li’s misfortune caused mishaps throughout the banquet, and Zhang Shen accidentally used Confucian magic to declare that there would be no romantic jealousy, earning the fish’s resentment.
• Xu Qi'an revealed to Second Uncle Xu that he had left Zhong Li behind on purpose to punish the guests who had watched and stirred trouble, then teased Wei Yuan and promised Zhang Shen a poem as he saw guests off.
• With the bridal-chamber revelry still ahead, Xu Qi'an planned to bring Protector Yuan out of seclusion to rein in the remaining guests.

Xu Qi'an returned to the bridal chamber for wedding games as his relatives and guests gathered, each with their own plans for the newlyweds. The first question exposed the secret of his advancement, and he answered that he had used flower arranging.

• Xu Qi'an persuaded Xu Pingzhi to stay for the bridal chamber games by threatening to tell Auntie about his use of green tangerines.
• Li Lingsu and Yang Qianhuan plotted to embarrass Xu Ningyan, while the guests gathered and escorted him to Lin'an's bridal chamber.
• Yang Qianhuan proposed a question game in which he would use the Qi-Observing Technique to catch lies, and the guests agreed that both Xu Qi'an and Lin'an could be questioned.
• The guests drew lots, and Asuro won the first turn and asked Xu Qi'an how he had advanced to the Second Rank.
• Xu Qi'an answered that he had advanced through flower arranging.

Xu Qi'an’s wedding-night game continued until he brought Protector Yuan into the bridal chamber, where the monkey’s mind-reading exposed the guests’ private thoughts and drove nearly everyone away. The chapter ended with only a few guests remaining as Xu Qi'an challenged Li Lingsu and Yang Qianhuan to continue.

• Xu Qi'an answered the first question by saying he had taken a portion of the Undying Tree’s spiritual essence, and Yang Qianhuan confirmed he was telling the truth.
• Xu Lingyue asked Lin'an whether she would allow Xu Qi'an to take concubines, and Lin'an said he could only do so with her permission.
• Li Lingsu asked Xu Qi'an to choose between Lin'an and Luo Yuheng, but Xu Qi'an brought in Sun Xuanji and Protector Yuan instead of answering.
• Protector Yuan read Li Lingsu’s and Li Miaozhen’s thoughts aloud, then exposed private thoughts belonging to Lin'an, Xu Lingyue, Huaiqing, Ji Baiqing, Mu Nanzhi, Wang Simu, and Asuro.
• The exposed guests and the Martial Arts Alliance members fled the bridal chamber, leaving Lin'an, Xu Qi'an, Sun Xuanji, Protector Yuan, Li Lingsu, Yang Qianhuan, and the fox spirit behind.
• Xu Qi'an revealed that he had kept Protector Yuan there with the Peace Saber pressed against him, then challenged Li Lingsu and Yang Qianhuan to continue the game.

Xu Qi'an dealt with Li Lingsu and Yang Qianhuan after their bridal-chamber prank, then planned an attack on Aranda with the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox and learned that the Great Sun Reincarnation Dharma Idol had been born inside Shenshu. He returned to Lin'an and consummated their marriage, while the next morning Li Lingsu, Yang Qianhuan, and Miao Youfang were found hanging outside the Xu Residence.

• Xu Qi'an paralyzed Li Lingsu and Yang Qianhuan and carried them out of the bridal chamber, while Sun Xuanji teleported away with Protector Yuan.
• Xu Qi'an and the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox discussed delaying an attack on Aranda until Great Feng had more Transcendent experts ready to defend against the Shaman God Cult.
• The Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox told Xu Qi'an that the Great Sun Reincarnation Dharma Idol had been born inside Shenshu, and Xu Qi'an sealed her with the bronze mirror before speaking to her as Fuxiang.
• Xu Qi'an returned to Lin'an, reassured her about the wedding guests, and spent their wedding night with her.
• Old Zhang opened the Xu Residence gates the next morning and found Li Lingsu, Yang Qianhuan, and Miao Youfang hanging outside with humiliating signs.

Li Lingsu, Miao Youfang, and Yang Qianhuan were publicly humiliated outside the Xu Residence, while Xu Qi'an learned that someone had placed a bounty on Protector Yuan. The chapter left Xu Qi'an suspecting Huaiqing or Xu Lingyue and wondering whether he could claim the reward himself.

• Li Lingsu, Miao Youfang, and Yang Qianhuan hung outside the Xu Residence with their powers sealed, and Yang Qianhuan gave the crowd the name Sun Xuanji to protect his identity.
• Auntie ate breakfast with Lina and Lingyin, learned that Lingyue and Aunt Mu were staying in their rooms, and worried over the family tensions revealed by the monkey.
• Nangong Qianrou told Wei Yuan that Xu Ningyan's monkey demon could read minds, and a eunuch summoned Wei Yuan to the palace for monkey brains at Huaiqing's order.
• Protector Yuan worried that he would be assassinated, then learned from Song Qing that a bounty offered thousands of taels for his limbs, tongue, and brains.
• Xu Qi'an received Sun Xuanji's message, suspected Huaiqing or Xu Lingyue of arranging the bounty, and considered claiming it before joining the palace maids at breakfast.

Xu Qi'an recorded his married life, his repeated distractions from Lin'an, and the approaching Gu God calamity. On the seventh day of the fourth month, he helped Huaiqing begin her attempt to advance to the Third Rank by giving her Dragon Qi and the Blood Pill.

• Xu Qi'an returned to the palace with Lin'an and his family for the wedding thank-you banquet, while Xu Lingyue stayed home recovering from illness.
• Xu Qi'an found Lina, Xu Lingyin, and Chu Caiwei waiting outside Song Qing's secret chamber for Protector Yuan, whom they planned to eat after the monkey-brain feast.
• Xu Qi'an accompanied Luo Yuheng to the Heaven Sect for the Heaven and Human Contest; she was seriously injured but seized the Heavenly Venerable's essence and nearly extinguished her Karmic Fire.
• Xu Qi'an visited the Southern Frontier and found the Extreme Abyss stable, though cracks in the Confucian Sage's statue showed that the Gu God would break free within a year.
• Xu Qi'an helped Xu Yuanhuai join the Nightwatchers and later taught him the proper use of green tangerines after his birth mother worried about his visits to the Imperial Music Bureau.
• Xu Qi'an gave Huaiqing Dragon Qi from the Earth Book Fragment, and Huaiqing swallowed the Blood Pill to begin her advancement to the Third Rank.

Huaiqing endured the Blood Pill’s agony and became the Nine Provinces’ first female Transcendent martial artist. That night, Li Miaozhen gathered her accumulated merit to advance, but as her Yang Spirit formed, karmic backlash appeared on her brow.

• Huaiqing swallowed the Blood Pill, endured its destructive power with Xu Qi'an’s help, and successfully advanced to the Transcendent realm.
• Huaiqing and Xu Qi'an discussed Li Miaozhen’s planned breakthrough and the risk of karmic backlash before Xu Qi'an left the palace.
• At the Eight Trigrams Platform, Xu Qi'an told Asuro they would attack Aranda after Li Miaozhen advanced, while the gathered companions exchanged barbs.
• Li Miaozhen gathered the merit she had accumulated over three years, and its power formed her Yang Spirit.
• As Daoist Jinlian warned that Li Miaozhen’s merit carried corresponding karmic burdens, a black mark appeared between her brows and began to spread.

Li Miaozhen overcame the corruption of her past deeds by drawing on the merit of those she had saved, and advanced to the Third Rank. Afterward, the Heaven and Earth Society members secretly crowded into Sun Xuanji’s room to learn what she had been thinking, only for Protector Yuan to reveal that her Yang Spirit was present.

• Li Miaozhen faced people she had saved who later turned to evil, but memories of Xu Qi'an and the gratitude of those she had helped dispelled the corruption.
• Li Miaozhen condensed her merit, advanced to the Third Rank, and received congratulations from her companions.
• Li Miaozhen learned that the others had tried to read her thoughts, while Protector Yuan embarrassed Chu Yuanzhen by voicing his private judgment of his companions.
• Yang Qianhuan, Li Lingsu, Miao Youfang, Chu Yuanzhen, Asuro, Daoist Jinlian, and Xu Qi'an successively gathered in Sun Xuanji’s room to ask Protector Yuan about Li Miaozhen’s thoughts.
• Protector Yuan opened a brocade pouch, releasing Li Miaozhen’s Yang Spirit, which coldly surveyed the room.

Xu Qi'an and the Heaven and Earth Society planned an assault on Aranda to rescue Shenshu’s head, weighing how to counter the Buddhist Bodhisattvas and their dangerous abilities. They agreed to meet again in two days, while Xu Qi'an asked Song Qing to investigate whether Jialuoshu’s essence could help him advance.

• Li Miaozhen revealed that she had secretly overheard the group gossiping about her, and Xu Qi'an redirected the embarrassed gathering toward planning the attack on Aranda.
• Xu Qi'an assigned Huaiqing, Yang Gong, Kou Yangzhou, and the State Preceptor to defend the capital while the group discussed facing Jialuoshu, Liuli, and Guangxian.
• Asuro explained that Bodhisattva Liuli’s Formless Liuli Domain slowed everyone but Liuli, and the group considered ways to counter it.
• Xu Qi'an said that the Nation-Guarding Sword and his Transcendent Seven Absolutes Gu could let him break through Liuli’s domain.
• Xu Qi'an dismissed Miao Youfang’s concern about a Shaman God Cult ambush and asked Sun Xuanji whether a First Rank expert’s essence could be extracted.
• Xu Qi'an proposed killing Jialuoshu to advance to Mid First Rank, and Yang Qianhuan suggested asking Song Qing to devise a method; Xu Qi'an set the next meeting for two days later.

Xu Qi'an planned his campaign against the Buddhist Order and sought Wei Yuan's counsel, then went to the Directorate of Astronomy to ask Song Qing how to extract a First Rank martial artist's life essence. There, he found the Superintendent's writings, including a method for advancing to Half-Step Martial God.

• Xu Qi'an secretly returned with the Heaven and Earth Society to hear Li Miaozhen's thoughts, but Protector Yuan used Susu to deliver her furious rebuke.
• Xu Qi'an sent Wei Yuan a list of Buddhist Transcendent experts and considered rescuing Shenshu's head, killing Jialuoshu, and uncovering the connection between Buddha and Shenshu.
• Wei Yuan advised Xu Qi'an that the Buddhist Order and Shaman God Cult could coordinate their experts against him, and told him to go west without worry because he would guard the capital.
• Xu Qi'an visited Yeji, then went to the Directorate of Astronomy and learned that Song Qing was researching how to extract a First Rank martial artist's life essence.
• Xu Qi'an helped Song Qing gather books on alchemy, life, and formations, then found the Superintendent's book titled "Method of Advancing to Half-Step Martial God."

Xu Qi'an studied the Superintendent’s notes on advancing to Half-Step Martial God and learned from Song Qing how martial warriors differ from other systems. Meanwhile, Salun Agu divined a coming bloody calamity and ordered Nalan Tianlu to coordinate with the Western Regions, where Bodhisattva Liuli told Arhat Du'e to join the Shaman God Cult in attacking the capital.

• Xu Qi'an read that First-Rank martial warriors must rely on their own strength to advance, either by tempering themselves over time or by using Blood Pills made from powerful beings’ life essence.
• Song Qing explained that the Three Realms concerned worldly desires and the Five Elements concerned drawing on heaven and earth, prompting Xu Qi'an to wonder whether higher ranks lost their emotions and desires.
• Salun Agu divined that Xu Qi'an and Jialuoshu faced especially severe risks of death, then sent Nalan Tianlu to warn the Western Regions and summon Arhat Du'e to the Central Plains.
• Nalan Tianlu was told to remain in Aranda, watch events, and prevent Xu Qi'an from escaping if the opportunity arose, while also helping Jialuoshu if the timing was right.
• Bodhisattva Liuli interrupted Arhat Du'e’s sermon and ordered him to join the Shaman God Cult in razing the capital, clarifying that he should target Transcendents rather than mortals.

Baiji and Xu Lingyin quarreled playfully at the Xu Residence, while Mu Nanzhi worried that Xu Qi'an faced a dangerous battle in the Western Regions. At Aranda, the Buddhist Order prepared its defenses as Shenshu arrived and struck the mountain’s golden barrier.

• Xu Lingyin and Baiji accused each other of stealing a chicken leg and spat at each other after arguing over whose mother was prettier.
• Baiji went to Mu Nanzhi, complained that Xu Lingyin had bullied her, and learned that Xu Qi'an had gone to the Western Regions to fight.
• Mu Nanzhi reflected that Xu Qi'an’s battle would be more dangerous than the tribulation he had faced during Luo Yuheng’s Tribulation Transcendence.
• At Aranda, the monks gathered in silence as Bodhisattva Guangxian ordered them to enter seated meditation and prepare for an enemy.
• Shenshu stood at the foot of Mount Aranda and struck the golden Buddha-light barrier.

Shenshu battered Aranda’s Chan formation, bringing it close to collapse, while the Transcendents watched and struggled against Bear King’s sleep-inducing ability. Bodhisattva Jialuoshu then manifested the Immovable Wisdom King Dharma Idol, stabilizing the barrier and stopping Shenshu’s attacks from resonating through it.

• Shenshu struck Aranda’s golden barrier with his twenty-four arms, making the formation shake and causing many Chan Masters to bleed and falter.
• Daoist Jinlian, Zhao Shou, Li Miaozhen, Asuro, Sun Xuanji, the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox, and Bear King watched Shenshu’s assault from the sky.
• Bear King’s innate ability made the Transcendents drowsy, so the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox whipped him awake and Zhao Shou used Words Become Law to keep him alert.
• The Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox warned the others not to underestimate the formation, and Bodhisattva Jialuoshu opened his eyes.
• Jialuoshu manifested the Immovable Wisdom King Dharma Idol and merged with it, stabilizing the barrier and suppressing the resonance of Shenshu’s blows.

Xu Qi'an used Shenshu’s relentless assault to find an opening in Aranda’s defensive formation, then broke it with a Blood Sacrifice-enhanced Heaven and Earth One-Saber Slash. With the Buddhist Order’s defenses shattered, Xu Qi'an and Shenshu prepared to attack Bodhisattva Jialuoshu together.

• Shenshu battered Aranda’s barrier until the Immovable Wisdom King Dharma Idol began to tremble, creating an opening for Xu Qi'an.
• Xu Qi'an burned his blood essence with Blood Sacrifice, then combined Heaven and Earth One-Saber Slash with Zhao Shou’s Words Become Law to strike the Immovable Wisdom King.
• The barrier collapsed, killing many Chan Masters and leaving the Buddhist Order’s sacred mountain devastated.
• The monks recognized Xu Qi'an as a First-Rank martial artist who had returned to settle accounts, while Xu Qi'an faced the three Bodhisattvas and secretly feared his exhaustion.
• Guangxian threatened Xu Qi'an and his allies, but Shenshu appeared behind the Bodhisattvas, and Xu Qi'an joined him in attacking Jialuoshu.